One Of The Most Common Contraceptive Pills May Affect Your Well-Being

But no causation between the Pill and depression remains.

Amid great speculation and a pool anecdotal evidence, a team of Swedish researchers has shown one of the most common combined oral contraceptive pills can have a negative impact on a woman's quality of life, but does not increase depressive symptoms.

The scientific base is very limited in regards to the contraceptive pill's effect on the quality of life and depression and there is a great need for randomised studies.

"Despite the fact that an estimated 100 million women around the world use contraceptive pills, we know surprisingly little today about the pill's effect on women's health," Professor Angelica Linden Hirschberg from the Department of Women's and Children's Health at the Karolinska Insitute said.

"The scientific base is very limited in regards to the contraceptive pill's effect on the quality of life and depression and there is a great need for randomised studies."

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The contraceptive pill comes with a list of side effects including nausea, bloating, headaches, increased appetite and mood swings.

What was tested?

The study was double-blinded and gave 340 women aged between 18 and 35 years old either a contraceptive pill or a placebo for three months.

A common form of combined oral contraceptive pill containing ethinylestradiol and levorngestrel -- least associated with a risk of thrombosis (or blood clots) -- was used.

At the start of the study, the women had their general health, including weight, height and blood pressure tested. None of the women were using hormonal birth control at commencement, though some had used it in the past.